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New Jersey Courier 24 Apr 1879 Mr. Mary P. WILLITS, a lady living at Tuckerton came near losing her life on Tuesday of last week by taking a dose of poison. She was troubled with erysipelas and swallowed a portion of a preparation intended for outward applications. Medical attendance arrived just in time to save her life. | |
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New Jersey Courier 22 May 1879 A forest fire broke out a few days since in the vicinity of Tuckerton and several thousand acres of pineland along the line of the Tuckerton Railroad were burned over. While fighting the flames, Freeholder Alfred Palmer was bitten in the forefinger by a pine snake, but without serious result. | |
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New Jersey Courier 27 Sep 1900: The following officers were elected recently by the Y.W.C.T.U.; Miss Lida STEWART, President; Miss Allie DAYTON, first vice president; Miss Mary KELLEY, second vice president; Miss Maggie COWPERTHWAITE, third vice president; Miss Annie GASKILL, recording secretary; Mrs. Mary KELLEY, corresponding secretary; Miss Ada F. TREWIN, treasurer; Miss Aetna ANDREWS, organist. Miss Lettie CROSBY, daughter of editor CROSBY of the Beacon, has entered Temple College, Philadelphia. Miss CROSBY is an expert compositor and used frequently to set up most of the type of the Beacon. A Republican club is among the latest ideas here. Another thing talked of is that the Tuckerton delegation may bring the Pohatcong band up to Toms River on convention day. Rev. E.M. VAN NOTE and wife have been visiting in Long Branch; and Rev. W.S. LUDLOW and wife at Swedesboro. Judge BEITLER of Philadelphia was a recent guest of H.W.SAPP, accompanied by his wife and daughter. There seems to be a general feeling of displeasure over the action (or rather inaction) of the township committee, which although it has been requested by petition and delegation of the heaviest taxpayers, has so far done nothing to take advantage of the proposition of the Board of Freeholders toward fixing the mill dam. S.B. PREDMORE, railway postal clerk between Tuckerton and Philadelphia, has been taking a fortnight's vacation, his place being filled by W.J. CRANE of Manahawkin. | |
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New Jersey Courier 6 Dec 1900: The stockholders of the Atlantic Burlington and Ocean Telephone Co. have elected the following officers and directors: President, Joseph I. SMITH; vice president James W. PARKER; Secretary, C.P. STEELMAN; treasurer, Howard MATHIS; directors, J.L.LANE,T.T. PRICE, B.S. STILES, R.A. MATHIS, D.P. CROWLEY, Walter ALLEN, B.H. CROSBY. Our young people who are away at school were generally home for the holiday. Lakeside council, Jr. O.U.A.M., attended service in the M.E. Church on Sunday evening last. W.S. AUSTIN is now employed by the Metropolitan Life Insurance company of New York from their Philadephia office. Tuesday evening, November 20th, at the home of Mrs. F.L. HOUGH, Media, Pa., Miss Rose A. PALMER, formerly of Tuckerton, was married to Fulton J. O'BRIEN, of Camden, who is telephone inspector for the Delaware and Atlantic Telephone Co. The ceremony was performed by the Rev. James BURNS of Camden, formerly of Tuckerton. The bridesmaid was Miss Jeans S. HOUGH, and the best man was Willard Parker HOUGH. After the ceremony, refreshments were served and the young couple left Media for their future home in Camden. Captain James HICKS has rebuilt the schooner Bromall so that it is practically a new craft and has named it the Adelia Hicks. The vessel now measures 50 feet keetl; 70 feet on deck; 19 feet 8 inch beam. She has been increased 18 feet overall, has new diamond steering rear, two new sails and new rigging. Courtney PATTERSON did the work of remodeling the vessel. | |
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New Jersey Courier 17 Sep 1903 The trial of CHARLES BENNETT, of Tuckerton, for the murder of MRS. MARY A . DARBY on the morning of C hristmas Day, was begun before Jutstice BENNETT VAN SYCKEL at ten o'clock Monday morning. For the state, Prosecutor BROWN was aided by I.W. CARMICHAEL of Toms River, EDMUND WILSON of Red Bank, and SAMUEL A. PATTERSON of Asbury Park defending Bennett. It took but an hour and fifteen minutes to secure a jury, the defence exhausting its twenty peremptory challenges for cause being allowed the defence by the court, and the State using seven challenges. The jury consists of :
During the selection of the jury, he looked straight in the eye the men he knew from Tuckerton, who were called as jurors; but after the jury was sworn Monday morning he tu rned his back on the jurors and witnesses alike and did not even turn around to look at the clothing that had been worn by Mrs. DARBY on that eventful night, as it was being identified. The revolver, match, and other articles had no great interest to him, and he sat with his back toward them all. In the afternoon he sat facing the jury, but apparently had no interest in the proceedings. The selection of the jurors was a dramatic scene. As each juror advance to the bar the Clerk called upon the juror to look upon the prisoner, and the prisoner to to look upon the juror, and then asked for challenges. Under the recent decision, all challenges had to be made before the juror was sworn. However, the counsel were allowed to swear the jurors and question them under oath, before accepting or rejecting them as talesman. Mr. WILSON for the defense had a series of questions that he asked each juror: do you know the defendant? Do you know any of the witnesses? Have you formed an opinion of the case? Is that opinion one that would prevent you fro giving an impartial verdict after listening to the evidence and to the judge's charge? These questions were varied but little. For the stae, Mrs. CARMICHAEL merely asked if the juror was prejudiced against hanging or capital punishment? GEORGE W. MOTT of Tuckerton sat beside the lawyers for the defense and aided them during the selection of the jury, but the prisoner did not make a single suggestion to counsel. The defense challenged:
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New Jersey Courier 30 Mar 1911 Capt. Joel Van Sant and his mate, Morgan Morris, two mariners, both of this place, were compelled to abandon the yacht Edithanna at sea off Jupiter Inlet, Florida recently and were picked up by the French cruiser Gloire, which landed them at Annapolis, MD. They had been cruising in Florida waters and visited Havana, Cuba whence they sailed for Tuckerton on March 13. They ran into a storm that was too much for their craft were blown off shore, and would probably have gone down with their schooner had not the French cruiser come along. The Edithanna was owned by Thomas Henderson of Philadelphia and had a crew of four men. J.H. Bartlett and wife have gone on a trip to California via the Sunset route, New Orleans and the Grand Canyon of the Rio Colorado. A local debating club has decided that drunkenness is a greater curse to humanity than war. Well, you can neither compel a man to pull a trigger or take a drink if he makes up his mind ot to, and that would solve both the problems. Dr. Alfred Wagg, district superintendent, began his district work here with a quarterly conference Saturday evening. He preached in the ME church on Sunday morning. Capt. Albert Horner of the schooner A and M Carlisle was home last week. Mrs. Sarah W. Leeds of the Haddon Hall, Atlantic City, was a vistor here last week. Last week a fire burned several hundred acres of young pine timber and burned a swath from Tuckerton to Parkertown. Several houses just escaped. | |
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New Jersey Courier 16 Oct 1916 Mrs. J.K. Ridgway of Barnegat has been visiting Mrs. J.T. Burton. Mrs. Marie Eggerman of Hoboken was a recent visitor here. Mrs. Lottie Marshall of Philadelphia is spending a few days here. Harry Blow and family of New Egypt are visiting relatives here. Wm. A. Morris, Jr. of Washington, D.C. spent the week end with his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Wm. A. Morris, Sr. Mrs. C.H. Conover was a visitor in Philadelphia this week. Dr. and Mrs. J.L. Lane spent Thursday in Trenton Miss Grace Stiles is spending some time in Philadelphia. Miss Lena Morey has been visiting relatives in Atlantic City. Mrs. Watson Seaman and son Morris spent Tuesday in Philadelphia. Mr. and Mrs. James W. Parker have been visiting relatives in Trenton. Edwin Morgan spent Saturday in Philadelphia. Miss Mary Stewart of Des Moines, Iowa was a recent visitor here. Rev. S.K. Moore has been spending a few days in Bridgeton. R.H. Mason was a recent visitor in town. Mrs. John Applegate of Atlantic City is visiting relatives here. Miss Marian V. Leake has accepted a position in the post office. Mrs. Walter S. Allen, Mrs. James O. Horner, Mrs. Calvin Parker, Mrs. Jennie V. Mathis, and Mrs. George A. Leake attended the Ocean County WCTU convention at Barnegat on Thursday last. | |
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New Jersey Courier 20 Apr 1917 On a charge of receiving 10 sacks of oysters under false pretenses, Walter Sayres, of No. 2205 Carman Street, was held in $500 bail by Recorder Stackhouse in Camden last Friday. Daniel Mathis of Tuckerton testified that he had an order to ship the oysters to H.L. Carson, Haddon and Kaign avenues, but that when he called to collect the billno such party could be located. Detectives learned, it was alleged, that Carl Holsinger received the oysters at the instruction of Sayres under the name of Carson. The Tuckerton Athletic Association has elected the following officers: President, Lipman S. Gerber; vice-president, J.L. Lane; secretary, E.W. Sapp; manager baseball team, J. Wynne Kelley; assistant manager, E. Moss Mathis. The team will have several new players this year and some good baseball may be looked for. | |
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Tuckerton Beacon 2 Aug 1917 William Foster of Camden was a week end visitor at the home of Mrs. William Bacharach. Myer Fineberg spent a few days in Philadelphia this week. Miss Hetty Smith is visiting Miss Blanche Cale in Beach Haven. Mrs. Joseph Mott was an Atlantic City visitor this week. Mr. and Mrs. Edward Falkinburgh and Mrs. Mary Gaskill spent a day last week with Mrs. Stanley Cranmer in Atlantic City. Mrs. J.B. Cazier of Kirkwood, Delaware is spending the summer with her niece, Mrs. H.B. Spackman. Mrs. Kirkwood will join his wife here this week for a brief visit. Miss Warren of Trenton is the guest of Mrs. N.B. Horner. Don't fail to hear Mr. R.F. Engle, president of the Ocean County Mosquito Commission at the Palace Theater tonight. Mr. Engle will give an address on the control of this pest and his talk will be illustrated with motion pictures. This will be in addition to the regular movie show. Mr. Engles talk will be exceedingly interesting and instructive to shore folks, as he is an authority on mosquito control work. Mrs. Alice Dabney of Westfield, NJ spent the week end with Mr. and Mrs. Jesse Washington. Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Rider entertained the latter's mother and sister, Mrs. Charles Klinger and Mrs. Phillip of Mt.Carmel also Mrs. Fry of the Central Hospital, Philadelphia. Mr. and Mrs. Edward Fuher and son Albert of Essington were recent guests of Mr. and Mrs. Anson Rider. Miss Agnes Regel, of Camden, is visiting Miss Elsie and Lena Morey. The Misses Elsie and Lena Morey spent Sunday in Cape May. Mrs. Herman Morey accompanied them on their return. Mrs. George Roth, of Philadelphia, spent the week with her daughter, Mrs. Samuel Carhart. Miss Christine Roth, of Philadelphia, again visited Tuckerton, spending a few days with her sister, Mrs. Samuel Carhart. Mrs. Howard Bird and daughter Angie and Mrs. Joseph M. Bird, son Frank and daughter Minnie and Mrs. Samuel Jones and son Dermott all motored to Atlantic City Monday afternoon and attended the circus and visited Mrs. Ruloff Morey and returned home Tueday evening. Mrs. Amanda Seaman, 69 years of age, was found dead Tuesday morning at the home of Joel J. Salmons where she has made her home for the past two years. Mrs. Seaman was the widow of the late Clayton Seaman. Mr. and Mrs. Howard Chartle, of Camden, were recent guests of Mr. and Mrs. LeRoy Marshall. Mrs. Charlte is manager of the credit department of the Victor Talking Machine Company and Mr. Marshall, a former Tuckerton boy is in the advertising department of the same company. | |
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New Jersey Courier 18 Jan 1918: Mrs. George Sheppard of New York spent a portion of the week here. Mrs. M.E. Sapp has gone to Welaka, Fla. to spend the remainder of the winter. Mrs. Harvey Smith is spending some time in Camden. W.V. Love of Philadelphia spent Thursday here. J.H. Wilkinson of Philadephia was a recent visitor here. Mrs. U.S. Driscoll was called to Trenton on account of the serious illness of her daughter, Mrs. Paul Klinger. Leroy Horner of Philadelphia spent the week end here with his parents, Mr. and Mrs. J.W. Horner. Miss Leona Salmons of Staffordville has been visiting here. A. Waldron has returned after spending several days in New York. George Mott of Camden was a recent visitor here. Miss Lydia R. Leake is spending sometime in the Quaker city. Edward B. Cooper of Atlantic City spent Monday in town. William Morris, Jr. of Washington, D.C. is visiting his parents, Mr. and Mrs. William Morris, Sr. Mrs. George Grant is spending a few days in Philadelphia. Miss Annie Jones entertained the "Spooks" on Tuesday evening. A very "spirited" time was had by all. The following 'spooks' were present: Misses Mary Parker, Elizabeth Smith, Ethel Kaiser, Lillian Stevens and Marian Leake. | |
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Tuckerton Beacon 4 Mar 1920: Improvements amounting to $18,000 are being made to the Margaretta cottage by contractors GRANT and CRANMER. This work is being done for Wilmer HOOPER, of Philadephia. The two Dredger cottages at Beach Haven Terrace are to be moved to Beach Haven and will be placed on Belvoir Avenue. Harry T. WILLITS will erect a new store on Beach avenue near the Post Office and expects to be open for business this coming season. | |
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Tuckerton Beacon 8 April 1920: Mr. and Mrs. Earl MEGAR of Hammonton, and Miss Katie BOWER, of Philadelphia, spent the day with Mr. and Mrs. Thomas KELLEY. The W.T.I. & C. Association will hold their regular meeting in the Borough Hall tomorrow (Friday afternoon) at 3 o'clock. All members are urgently requested to attend . The W.C.T.U. me at the home of Mrs. S. N. LIPPINCOTT on Tuesday evening. Members from Manahawkin were present. Mrs. R.E. PREDMORE and C. FRAZIER, of Rockledge, both former Tuckertonians, are visiting at the former's home on Main Street for a few days. Samuel S. ANDERSON and W. Howard KELLEY represented Tuckerton Lodge No. 4, F. & A. M., at a session of the Masonic Grand Lodge at Trenton yesterday. Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth LANNING and daughter, Miss Virginia, have been visiting Mrs. Lannings' parents, Mr. and Mrs. Jno. C. PRICE. Mrs. A. CARHART accompanied her son, Webster, and his family when they returned home after spending the winter with her children in Philadelphia. Rev. Daniel JOHNSON was taken ill Sunday afternoon and was unable to occupy the pulpit in the M.E. Church Sunday evening. Neuralgia was the cause of the illness and kept him in bed several days. |
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NEW JERSEY COURIER 16 DEC 1921 The first arrest made by the newly organized state police force was in Tuckerton last week when Thomas Sandbo, a Texan, threatened to shoot up his father-in-law, Thomas Cale, and other members of his wife's family, and carried their baby from its home and left it with a neighbor across the street. State police brought Sandbo to the county jail. Cale's daughter, a girl in her teens, was visiting her sister in Colorado when she met and married Sandbo. They seperated and she came home. The man came to Tuckerton last week and the events enumerated above followed in quick succession. Joseph Gilbert, of Tuckerton, a ma well along in his sixties, was tried Wednesday on the charge of rape upon Lavinia Penn, aged 13 year, daughter of Jacob Penn, of Tuckerton. Four little girls, Lavinia and her 11 year old sister Lydia,with Isabel and Sarah Miller of West Creek, also of like tender age, told their story in court and were unshaken by the cross examination of Harry E. Newman, who defended Gilbert. The case was not completed Wednesday and will be resumed next Tuesday. | |
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NEW JERSEY COURIER 19 OCT 1923 Tuckerton, Oct 17--Today the body of Mrs. Margaret HENING, who disappeared on July 27 last, was found about two miles from this town and about a mile from the home of her son in law and daughter, Mr. and Mrs. KLUIN, with whom she had made her home. On July 27 last, Mrs. Henning, a woman of 70 or upwards, went out to pick huckleberries, or blackberries. She got lost and stopped WALLACE IRONS, a farmer, to ask how to get home. He showed her the right direction, and she was not seen after that till the body was found today. The body when found was about where swamp and meadow meet. One of the many who were in the searching party last July, said he passed at that time within 200 feet of the spot. Coroner Anderson BUGBEE of Barnegat was called in. The body was found by Calvin E. PARKER and Harry ALLEN of Tuckerton, who were after wild cranberries. | |
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NEW JERSEY COURIER 26 OCT 1923 Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Carhart are making an extended visit in Philadelphia. Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin Riley of Ventnor visited h ere on Sunday. Mrs. Sara Blackman and Mrs. L. Jones are spending the week at Glen Echo, MD and Washington D.C.. Miss Helen Brong of Wilkes-Barre, PA is the guest of Prof. and Mrs. L.L. Coil. Miss Marian Leake spent the weekend in Philadelphia. Mr. and Mrs. H.E. Markland and Mrs. George Jones, have moved into E.E. Adare's residence for the winter. Mrs. W.S. Allen and Lyman Allen motored to Hightstown last week. They visited Mrs. Allen's daughter, Mrs. John Plant. Mrs. George Leake entertained on Sunday Mr. and Mrs. J.B. Proud and children of Camden, and Miss helen Weeks of Collingswood. Mr. and Mrs. Calvin Parker, and Mr. and Mrs. Wm. Ireland, motored to Patchogue, L.I. and spent several days there recently. Miss Marian Parker has returned from a visit in Atlantic City. Mrs. Francis Parker is spending a few days at Ventnor. Mr. and Mrs. William Rogers have returned from a visit in Atlantic City. James Marshall was home from Camden on Sunday. Mrs. F. Von Hebler of Philadelphia is spending some time at the home of J.J. Pharo. Mme. Cottrelly-Wilson has been home from New York to spend a few days. Mr. and Mrs. S.S. Anderson and Mr. and Mrs. F. Parker motored to Bradley Beach on Sunday. Mrs. E.F. Reid, Mrs. A.J. Rider and Mrs. J.V. Mathis are attending the State Convention of the W.C.T.U. at new Brunswick th is week. Quite a number of members from here attended the Moose Lodge at Atlantic City on Monday evening. Gypsy Locke and family are here on their annual visit. Miss Katherine Frazier spent Monday at New Brunswick. Jos. B. Mathis attended a meeting of the Atlantic and Pacific Tea Co. in Camden on Sunday. Mrs. John Kohler is spending a fortnight with Mrs. F.W. Linder at Bristol, PA. Mrs. Morgan Morris and Miss Myrtle Bennett spent last Wednesday in Philadelpia. E.A. Kertscher of New York City is here on a gunning expedition. Mr. and Mrs. Eber Rider, Mrs. Anna Rider and Stanley Ireland are visiting at the Lighthouse, Sea Haven, this week. Albert Lane is employed in Atlantic City. Ernest Smith is again at the Jefferson Hospital, Philadelphia, being treated for throat trouble. R.M. Hause, W.C. Jones and Richard Mottram enjoyed last week gunning on great bay. Capt. A.H.T. Rider of Sea Haven, passed through here on a visit to Phila. last week. Mr. and Mrs. Thos. Hanson, who have been at Beach Haven during the summer, have returned to their home here. Mrs. Joan Fleet of Sayville, L.I. is visiting her daughter, Mrs. Milton Rider. L.I. Foley of Philadelphia was among last week's visitors. Thomas Cale and family have returned home after spending the summer in Beach Haven. Mr. and Mrs. R.E. Barwick are occupying W.H. Pharo's house on Otis Avenue. The Civic Association are arranging an entertainment to be given sometime in the near future. It will be called "The Minister's Wife's New Bonnet". The revival services that are being held at the M.E. Church continue to be well attended. Wm. H. Van Gaasbeek of the U.S.N. is spending a few days here with his family. Reuben Gerber's new store will have it's official opening soon. Joel Van Sant spent a week's vacation withhis family before leaving for Jacksonville, Fla. He went on the yacht "Siesta" owned by Judge White of Atlantic City. Mr. and Mrs. Wilbur Parker of Brooklawn have returned home after spending the week with the former's parents, Mr. and Mrs. J.W. Parker. Mr. Benjamin Mathis who is employed at the State Reformatory at Rahway, is home for a few days. Miss Doris Montfort was a guest of Mr. and M rs. W.C. Jones part of last week. Mr. and Mrs. Benj. Riley of Ventnor were Sunday visitors at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Jules Horner, jr. Mrs. Jules Horner, jr., Mrs. Samuel Jones and Mrs. Walter Sapp were Atlantic City visitors last week. Mrs. Jack Jones of Atlantic City is spending some time here with Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Jones. | |
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New Jersey Courier 2 Aug 1929 HELD AS SUSPECTS Tuckerton, July 28 Early Monday morning State Police at Tuckerton were notified by George Vogt, who operates a service station not far from Parkertown, that someone had made an attempt to rob his place for the second time within the week. Vogt was able to furnish a fairly good description of the offenders. Troopers Burgess and Klitch picked up two youths in West Tuckerton in an old Ford, who gave their names as Marshall Forman, 20, and Francis Hudspeck, 19, both of Missouri. The tropers arrested the young men on suspicion and committed them to the County jail at Toms River, pending further investigation. | |
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New Jersey Courier 20 Dec 1929 The State Motor Vehicle Department has had an auditor here this week, going over the docket and account books of Allen SEAMAN, Justice of the Peace of Tuckerton. The December grand jury recently indicted Seaman for retaining funds collected in fines, which he should have turned over to the Motor Vehicle Department monthly. It was alleged that he was some $2700 behind in these accounts. William SCHABLE is the name of the auditor. | |
| New Jersey Courier 8 Dec 1939 The old Tuckerton Railroad, famed in Ocean County h istory and known all over the United States as the smallest railroad company in the country, officially ended its existence Wednesday when the Interstate Commerce Commission in Washington, D.C. granted its application to abandon the 12 mile line between Tuckerton and Barnegat and the spur from Manahawkin to Hilliard. While it was known as the Tuckerton Railroad in Ocean County, the company was officially the Southern New Jersey, following its reorganization in 1939 by the H.E. Salzburg company of New York. The company stopped running trains two years ago, but Tuckerton and Manahawkin residents hoped that having the railroad in existence would give th em hopes of revival of rail connection with the outside world. Mayor George W. PARKER, and residents of Tuckerton, were angered by the commission's ruling, and said they had not been officially notified of the hearing of the petition until Monday night. However, the fact that the railroad will be torn up for scrap iron and its five employees will be dismissed should not prove serious to Tuckerton because of good bus service on the main New York-Atlantic City line and the heavy trucking traffic passing through the town. | |
| Philadelphia Inquirer 19 Apr 1981 Several hundred people were evacuated from campgrounds yesterday as firefighters battled two forest fires covering about 2,000 acres each of South Jersey. The fires - about 25 miles apart - spread through woodlands, and hundreds of firefighters used trucks, airplanes and axes to fight the blazes. One fire was in the Elwood area of Mullica Township, Atlantic County, and the other began in the Tuckerton area of Burlington County, later spreading to Ocean County, according to fire officials. The fire in the Tuckerton area was reported out of control late last night, and the Mullica fire was reported still burning, but contained. Fire officials expected to spend all night fighting the blazes. The fires were first reported about 3 p.m. and grew worse as strong winds fanned the flames. No fatalities or injuries were reported, officials said. No causes for the fires had yet been determined, but one official said that forest fires are common at this time of year. " We don't like to see them get this big," said Ben Petrini, assistant district fire warden for the New Jersey Forest Fire Service. In Mullica, some private homes were threatened, but firefighters managed to save them from the flames, Petrini said. In the Burlington County fire, 52 groups of campers were evacuated from the KOA campground near the Bass River State Forest, and the national forest was also evacuated, according to employees. Some campers went to a grocery store parking lot on Route 9 in Tuckerton , and others left the area. However, afterit appeared that the fire was moving away from the national forest, a few campers were allowed back in, according to an employee of the park. North of the Bass River State Forest, about 1,750 acres of pine trees were burning, said fire officials. In Mullica, about 2,000 acres of pine and hardwoods were on fire. About 200 state firefighters, plus 200 members of local fire companies, battled the two fires, authorities said. | |
| Philadelphia Inquirer 24 Apr 1982 As firefighters contained three fires that have ravaged nearly 6,000 acres of the Pinelands in South Jersey since Thursday afternoon, state investigators began searching yesterday for clues in the blazes they believe were deliberately set." The timing and location of the fires make them of suspicious origin," said Jim Staples of the state Environmental Protection Department. " That's all we have to go on. No one saw anyone lighting matches." Joseph Hughes, the principal forester for the office of the state fire warden, said units of arson experts trained in investigating forest fires began working yesterday afternoon on the fires in Burlington and Ocean Counties. He said that by tracing the trail of a fire, investigators sometimes find its starting point and that sometimes " they can even trace it back to a match they find on the ground." As of yesterday, Hughes said, the investigators had no clues or suspects, though. Teams of state and local firefighters were also working with tractors and plows yesterday to cut a line around the perimeter of the fires. Other firefighters poked through the forest dousing pockets that were still burning. Hughes said that he expected the fires would be declared under control later last night, but that an increase in winds could cause them to flare up. A spokesman for the state police in Tuckerton , however, said that they considered the fires to have been under control since late Thursday night. The fires were still burning in three areas: on a 3,500-acre tract in and around Penn State Forest in Woodland Township, Burlington County; in a 1,300-acre area in Parkertown and a 1,000-acre area in West Creek, both in Ocean County. The Parkertown and West Creek fires are across Route 539 from each other and about 15 miles from the Penn State Forest blaze. Hughes said that the Burlington County fire was reported just before 2 p.m. Thursday and that the ones in Ocean County were discovered about a half hour later. Several hundred residents of West Creek and Parkertown who had been taken to nearby schools were sent home late Thursday night, local officials said. State and local officials reported that some buildings were slightly damaged but that there were no reports of structural damage to homes. Hughes also said that the structures damaged by the fire were not homes, as originally reported, but " outer structures - barns, sheds." Officials also said there were no reports of major injuries. " We had a fire chief who broke his arm and a couple of firemen overcome by smoke. Other than that, there were just a lot of shot nerves," said Gary Doan, the chief of the Parkerton volunteer fire company. Doan said that he had 30 men from volunteer companies working the fire Thursday night, but that yesterday about half of them had gone back to their jobs, leaving the fires to the state authorities who are paid to fight the blazes. Fires are " a way of life down here," Doan said. " It's like the tornadoes in Florida. You learn to live around it." Lt. Wayne Rupert, of the Ocean County Sheriff's Office in Toms River, said the county had at least one major fire each spring. " The conditions right now are pretty favorable for a bad fire," Rupert said. " It's fairly dry, and it's not really green yet." Officials interviewed yesterday said a combination of factors resulted in the almost annual spring fires in the Pinelands. First, porous ground absorbs most of the moisture in the forest, leaving the remainder either to be dried by the wind or to be evaporated by the sun. The result is a " tinderbox" of dead, dry pine needles on the forest floor. In the spring, before the sap is flowing, the trees themselves are easily ignited. The officials said, though, that the factor most most dangerous to the Pinelands in the spring was the influx of campers and fishermen. Hughes said that last year there were 2,355 fires in New Jersey's forests and that 99 percent of them were caused by people, either deliberately or accidentally. | |
| Philadelphia Inquirer 13 Feb 1985 A 46-year-old Tuckerton man was undergoing surgery last night for injuries suffered in a gunfight with two police officers, who shot the man after he opened fire on them, authorities said. Police said the man had said he was going to kill the officers. Leslie D. Conover, of the Bayview Trailer Park, was hospitalized at the Burlington County Memorial Hospital in Mount Holly for gunshot wounds of the right arm, left arm and chest, said Trooper Thomas Braddock of the state police barracks in Tuckerton , Ocean County. Braddock said the borough police department received a call about 3 p.m. yesterday, reporting that Conover was "tearing up" his house trailer. Officer Jim Crowell and state police Trooper D. Furlong approached Conover's trailer, and Conover yelled that he was going to shoot the officers, said Braddock. "He stated that he was going to kill both officers," Braddock said. Conover began firing his rifle at the two, who returned fire and struck him three times, Braddock said. Braddock said the officers had not been hit, although their vehicles were damaged by the gunshots. Conover was charged with two counts of attempted murder , he said. Ocean County Superior Court Judge William H. Huber set bail for Conover at $15,000, Braddock said. Press of Atlantic City 1 Feb 1989 | The state Supreme Court has thrown out the 10-year prison sentence of a Tuckerton woman who pleaded guilty to the October 1985 shooting death of her husband. When ordering that Alison Towey be resentenced, the high court said Superior Court Judge Mark Addison had been inconsistent in imposing a minimum sentence for aggravated manslaughter while imposing the maximum permissible period of time without parole. The decision is significant in that it seems to indicate judges may now be required to clearly state their reasons for imposing parole stipulations, as they do when imposing sentences, according to Towey's attorney, Stephen Kirsch. The court decision also contained the details of the events leading up to the shooting of Towey's husband, William. The details come from statements Towey made when entering her guilty plea and information contained in her presentence report, the decision said. On the night of the shooting, Towey and a friend drank two quarts of sambuca and vodka, and also took methamphetamine, according to the decision. Towey arrived at her Admiral Drive home at about 11 p.m. and met a man, Robert Morella, with whom she was engaged in an extramarital affair, the court decision said. Towey complained that Morella's wife and a man named Henry would cause her to go to jail, according to the decision. Towey was concerned about having drugs and an unregistered pistol in the house, according to attorney Frank Louis, who represented Towey when she entered her guilty plea. Towey left the room and returned with a revolver, according to the decision. At one point she fired the gun into the living room floor. She later left the house, fired three more shots, then returned and reloaded, according to the decision. At about 11:20 p.m., Towey called Morella's wife. Morella told authorities that after the phone call, Towey threatened to shoot his wife, but later retracted the threat, according to the decision. Towey then called a friend and asked if she could take the gun to there, according to the decision. At about 11:30 p.m., Towey called her husband at Miller's Grapevine Inn and told him she was getting rid of the gun. The husband, who worked as a bartender at the inn, left work and came home. He did not want his wife leaving the house with a gun while intoxicated, according to the decision. An argument ensued, and Towey accidentally shot her husband. The man fell to the floor and Morella called police while Towey attempted to administer first aid, according to the decision. At Towey's request, Morella threw the gun, holster and ammunition into the lagoon behind her home, the decision said. Towey attempted suicide two days later and was taken to the Institute of Pennsylvania Hosptial for psychiatric treatment. She was charged with murder two weeks later. Towey pleaded guilty to aggravated manslaughter in August 1986. The charge carries a maximum 20-year prison term. However, at the time of sentencing, Addison said in view of the circumstances surrounding the killing, it would not be appropriate to impose the most severe sentence. While saying the aggravating circumstances outweighed the mitigating circumstances, Addison sentenced Towey to 10 years, the minimum presumptive term for aggravated manslaughter. The typical presumptive term would have been 15 years. However, the judge said Towey must serve one half her sentence before she could be released on parole. This was the maximum permitted parole stipulation. The minimum stipulation is one-third of a total sentence. In the decision, the court said Addison "did not sufficiently explain the apparent inconsistency" between the minimum term and maximum parole stipulation. The high court said the judge who resentences Towey should clearly reconcile any similar disparity in the new sentence. Kirsch said the decision does not bar Addison from reimposing the same sentence. It just requires he clearly explain his reasons for doing so. While judges have previously been required to give their reasons for imposing the length of a sentence, they have not been required to explain their reasons when imposing parole stipulations. Kirsch said he would be surprised if Addison imposed a longer sentence on the woman. "He seemed to be very clear on the record that she deserved no more than 10 years," Kirsch said. Towey has changed considerably since her initial sentencing, and those changes might convince a judge to keep the same maximum sentence while reducing her parole ineligibilty, Kirsch said. "At this point she is a new person. Last time she had a lot more problems. She has rehabilitated herself," the attorney said. When ordering the new sentencing, the high court also rejected Towey's contention that the time she spent in the mental institute should be credited toward her prison term. |
| Asbury Park Press 14 Jan 2007 A double murder-suicide beset Ocean County on Nov. 9, when William T. Cordes Jr., 52, of Tuckerton killed his ex-girflriend's two daughters. Mellisa Veitch, 21, who was four months pregnant, and Jessica Veitch, 15, had just pulled into their driveway after returning to their Stafford home from a convenience store when Cordes pulled in behind them and fatally shot them as they stepped out of their car. Cordes, a plumber, then went inside the Veitch's house and shot himself in the head, police said. The victims' mother, Dorea Veitch, a housekeeper, had ended a relationship with Cordes several months earlier, when she made him move out of her house in Deer Lake Park. [[Jessica's MySpace page is still up at http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=7634014]] | |
| Asbury Park Press 13 Mar 2008 A 15-year-old from Center Street, Tuckerton , was arrested by Sheriff's Detectives Claudette Vazquez and Christopher Gentile on an Ocean County Superior Court warrant for Contempt of Court Violation of Probation. The juvenile was processed and lodged in the Ocean County Juvenile Shelter. Andrew Janits, age 33 of Great Bay Boulevard, Tuckerton , was arrested by Sheriff's Detectives Kevin Allmann an Philip Seyfried on an Ocean County Superior Court Warrant for Failure to Pay Child Support in the amount of $24,728. Janits was processed and lodged in the Ocean County Jail pending the payment of the cash purge. | |
| Press of Atlantic City 9 Apr 1989 A judge has refused to reduce the minimum five years former Tuckerton resident Alison Towey must serve in prison for shooting her husband to death in 1985. Earlier this year, a state appellate panel ruled that Towey's October 1986 sentence was invalid because of technical discrepancies. Superior Court Judge Mark Addison originally imposed a minimum 10-year sentence for aggravated manslaughter, yet ordered the maximum of five years' parole ineligibility. The appeals court said that inconsistency must be resolved, based on the mitigating and aggravating factors of the case. Addison accomplished that Friday by resentencing her to 15 years in prison, with five years' no parole. Towey had been charged with murder three weeks after she reported her husband, William, 22, was shot in the couple's Admiral Drive home. She later pleaded guilty to aggravated manslaughter, contending the shooting was accidental. Her involvement in an extramarital affair and an apparent dependency on drugs and alcohol have been cited in subsequent court proceedings. On Friday, Towey's attorney said she has come a long way from the night of the killing, when she consumed methamphetamine and vodka. Attorney Francis J. Hartman said psychiatric evaluations have since presented "a very positive and hopeful picture" for Towey's rehabilitation. He urged the judge to impose the minimum three-year parole ineligibility, which would have effectively entitled her to a prompt release due to time served. "I can only remind Your Honor that if the purpose of the sentence is to punish, she has been punished. If the purpose of the sentence is to deter, she has been deterred. It the purpose of the sentence is to rehabilitate, she has taken advantage of every opportunity," Hartman said. With her own parents and the adoptive parents of her husband in the courtroom, Towey again expressed her remorse for the Oct. 10, 1985, crime. "There are certain apologies that need to be made that I don't think I have had the chance to make before," said Towey. "I can never erase what happened, or repay that. But I'm trying to change. That's all I've done for the last three and a half years. "I'm very sorry for what happened, not only for Billy, but for his family, for my family and everyone affected by this," she said. "It will be difficult for the remainder of my life. I have to live with what I've done." Addison said he would not consider her progress toward rehabilitation. "These are considerations for the Parole Board when they consider her release at some future date," the judge said. He said he must consider the mitigating and aggravating factors that were relevant in 1985. "However spaced out she was at that time, she knew she had a loaded, lethal weapon," the judge said. "There's no question she was in an unbalanced state. But she knew what she was doing." While in the courtroom, Towey turned around to give a brief smile to her parents and then to her late husband's parents. After sentencing, she was later granted a brief visitation with her own parents in the court jury room. Two guards then escorted her back to the Correctional Institute for Women at Clinton. James Towey, the victim's adoptive father, refused to comment on the case. | |
| Asbury Park Press 26 Jun 2008 The July 4 festivities for Tuckerton, Little Egg Harbor, Eagleswood and New Gretna will take place in Tuckerton on July 4. The parade lineup begins at 10 a.m at the Village Shoppes, Route 9. At 11 a.m., the parade steps off and heads south on Route 9, taking a left onto Great Bay Boulevard and turning into the back entrance to the Tuckerton Seaport. Afternoon entertainment will take place in Stanley "Tip" Seaman Park. � 4-5 p.m.: Brownstone Puppet Theatre's "Great American Teddy Bear Show;" � 5-6 p.m.: Basement Musicians; � 6-7 p.m.: Red Garters; � 7-8 p.m.: Honky Tonk Heroes. A disc jockey will fill in between entertainment and preceeding the fireworks. Food vendors, clowns and free children's games also will be at the park. The fireworks display over Lake Pohatcong will begin at dusk. |